Concept Mapping in a Flipped Clinical Environment: A Basic Qualitative Study

The need to encourage critical thinking and academically engage nursing students in a clinical environment compels faculty use of assorted teaching strategies, including concept mapping and flipped learning. Though nurse educators encourage both strategies, concurrent use of both methods in clinical teaching is rare. Thus, this study examined the use of concept mapping in a flipped clinical course to encourage students’ engagement and critical thinking. Twelve baccalaureate nursing students in a second-year medical-surgical clinical course provided the data for this basic qualitative study by completing journals or diaries throughout the course and through individual semi-structured interviews at course exit. Open coding of interview transcripts and journals in conjunction with constant comparative analysis helped develop categories and themes. Several overlapping themes emerged from interview and journal data. Nursing students indicated that they developed different ways of thinking, learned from many people, became actively involved in learning and expanded their thinking, connected information, determined clinical priorities and made decisions, became confident and knowledgeable in their ability to recall information and transfer knowledge, and experienced increased critical thinking and higher level thinking skills. The results of the study showed the participants derived positive meaning from their learning in a nontraditional flipped clinical with concept mapping. Students were actively engaged in their learning and were able to expand their thinking while working collaboratively with their instructor, patients, and staff.